Unveiled
by ffreaderwriter
Summary: A normal night patrol became anything but.
1. Chapter 1

Vince knelt on the roof of the building across the street from his family's apartment, the dark night and his cape wrapped around him like a warm blanket. He spotted Dana cleaning up the dinner dishes. Closing his eyes momentarily, he pictured himself standing beside her, smell of her hair filling his senses; he pushed it aside to give her a kiss on her neck. He lingered in that brief moment of tranquility, letting the feeling penetrate his entire being before opening his eyes once more. He would stand beside her again one day, without a mask.

He took a breath regaining control over his senses as he searched for Tripp. He wasn't in his bedroom, and as far as he could tell he wasn't in the rest of the apartment. A knot began to form in the pit of his stomach as he looked at the apartment above his family's where Tripp's friend lived. He found the little boy playing a video game in his bedroom, alone. The knot in his stomach grew larger as he looked back at Dana who continued to calmly work on the dishes.

A nearby clang caught his attention at the construction site next door to his family's apartment. There he saw him. What in the world was Tripp doing at an active construction site at night by himself? Vince moved quickly, appearing at the site moments later. He watched Tripp for a moment. He was walking around the site looking at the different tools, occasionally picking up small items before putting them back down. He shook his head as he stepped from the shadows. "Does your mother know you are here?"

Tripp gasped as he spun around to see who spoke. "Mr. Cape? What are you doing here?"

"The better question is what are you doing here?" He asked crossing his arms over his chest.

"Just looking around some. I was curious." Tripp answered quietly.

"Does your mother know you're here?" Vince asked again.

"No, she thinks I'm upstairs at my friend's." Tripp said lowering his head, knowing he shouldn't be out like this.

"Don't you think she would be worried about you if she knew you were out like this?"

"Yes."

"Why don't we get you back home?" Vince said taking a step closer.

Tripp opened his mouth to respond, but his eyes grew wide instead as he saw a man quickly approaching swinging a large wrench. Vince caught the expression on his son's face quickly turning to face whatever was coming towards them. He was not going to let anyone get to his son. Vince only had enough time to spin around with a dart arrow getting it off in time before the sickening thud sound of metal contacting with bone.


	2. Chapter 2

Tripp stood stunned at the scene that had just unfolded in front of him. It was just like the scenes out of the comics that he used to read with his dad. He had watched amazed as The Cape had spun around quickly and taking out the bad guy. But, normally the good guy triumphed over the bad guy and walked away, not remaining motionless.

Tripp hesitantly knelt down next to the fallen hero. "Mr. Cape, are you okay?"

Orwell sat at her keyboard clicking away. She reached over, grabbing her cup and taking a sip of tea. Things had been quiet the last few days. Too quiet she thought, as she took another sip of tea. She couldn't even find any activity that Chess, or Scales, or really anyone was up to at the moment. Placing the cup back on the table, she stretched and began to refocus on her work. Suddenly, she heard a loud crack over Vince's comm device.

"Vince? Vince? Are you okay? What's going on?" Orwell asked instantly alert and beginning to grow concerned at the silence on the other end.

Her hands flew over the keyboard activating the GPS in the comm. She knew Vince had gone out on his patrol, but since it had been so quiet lately she figured he had probably gone to check on his family. After only a few moments, she had his location. He was at the new construction that was being built next door to where his family stayed. _So, he's where I figured he would be, kinda. So, why isn't he answering me? _

"Vince? Can you hear me? Come on, answer me Vince." Okay she was getting worried.

"Hello?" an unfamiliar child's voice answered her.

"Who is this?"

"My name's Tripp Faraday."

Orwell's breath caught in her throat. Vince went to see his family and know his son had his comm. What happened to Vince? "I'm a friend of The Cape. Is he okay?"

"No." came the quiet reply. "I was over here looking around the construction site and he came over to see me and then this guy came and hit him with a wrench. Now, I can't get him to wake up. I heard you talking on this thing that fell off of him. Can you help him?"

"Yes, I'm going to help." Orwell could feel her heart pounding in her chest, but tried to keep her voice level not to frighten Tripp further. "Where is the guy that you attacked you now?"

"The Cape knocked him out." Orwell let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. She grabbed her keys racing to her car. "Tripp, I'm coming to help. I need you to do something for me. Can you help me out?"

Orwell heard a small "uh, huh" on the other end of the comm.

"I need to know how badly The Cape is hurt." She said as she put her key in the ignition. "I need you to look at his face and tell me if you see blood, how much, and where it is coming from."

Orwell shoved the car into drive as she waited for a response. "I see some blood on the side of his head. I can't really tell how much. Wait just a second."

_Hold on, Vince. I'm coming. You just hold on. _She thought as she sped toward the address. A sudden gasp over the comm brought her out of her thoughts. "Tripp? Is everything okay? Has the other guy woke up? What's wrong?"

"Dad?" the word escaped barely above a whisper. Orwell almost missed it. Tripp must have removed Vince's mask to check for blood better. She had been so preoccupied trying to get there before anything else had happened she had forgotten to say don't move his mask.

She heard it again, only slightly louder. "Dad?"

Orwell knew she had to get Tripp's attention fast, before he was shouting and woke up the other man. "Tripp. Tripp. I need you to listen to me. Can you hear me?" She was greeted with only silence. The kid must be in shock. She needed to get his attention, before he possibly completely shut down.

"Tripp, I'm a friend. I know that you must be really scared and confused right now. I need you to be brave and do something for me. I need to stay on the line and talk to me.

Can you do that?"

Orwell heard a very small and distant sounding "uh huh".

"Tell me about the last time you and your dad when on a trip together."

"Um, well we went to Bear Creek."

"That sounds like fun. Tell me about it." Orwell tried to have a normal sounding tone to her voice, but knew it wasn't.

Orwell breath caught in her throat a few moments later, stopping her conversation briefly as she heard a slight low moan. _Oh, good he's alive._

Orwell arrived at the construction site. "Okay, Tripp I need to know where you are."

"We're on the third level. There are stairs in the back."

Orwell looked around, finally spotting the stairs. "Tripp, is the other guy still out?"

Tripp looked around. "Yes."

"Good. I'm on my way."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks to everyone that is reading this, especially to the people reviewing it. It is always nice to know people enjoy your work. Thanks to Red Fedora for her help with this story. Also, since I always forget the disclaimer: I don't anything other than my computer and my idea. If I owned The Cape, it would still be on T.V.

Cards lay strewn across the small wooden table along with two soda cans. Orwell and Trip had somehow managed to get Vince down the stairs and into her car. She had done the best she could with her various computers to scan Vince to make sure there was no internal damage, before bandaging his head. She had even managed to get a card game going so that Trip was no longer just sitting and staring at his father.

"So, my dad is The Cape." Trip said looking over his cards. It was a statement, not a question.

"Yep." Orwell said.

"I knew all those they said about him weren't true. I didn't care who said them."

Orwell smiled. She knew Vince would be happy to hear that. She took a quick glance at him, but he was still unconscious.

"Why couldn't he tell me?"

Orwell saw the pain in the little boy's eyes and her heart broke for him. "I think that is something you are going to have to talk to him about." Trying to change the subject she asked. "Got any sevens?" Go fish was the only game she could think of that was age appropriate.

Trip checked his cards. "Nope, Go fish" before looking back at Orwell. "So, are you like Robin?"

"Excuse me?" Orwell asked drawing a card from the deck.

"You know. If my dad's the Cape and you have this liar with all these computers and stuff does that make you like Robin?"

"Am I his side kick?" Orwell let out a small laugh. She couldn't help it given the circumstance. She had never considered herself to be a side kick. "I like to think that we are equal, but you can think of me as a side kick."

A groan from the other end of the room stopped the conversation. She saw Trip immediately begin to get out of his chair. She put a hand on his arm to stop him. "Let me talk to him first, okay?"

Trip nodded hesitantly, agreeing to wait.

Orwell stepped over to Vince's bed in time to watch his eye lids flutter open. "W-What happened?" The words came out slow and were almost slurred.

"You took a glancing blow from a metal wrench. Lucky for everyone you have a hard head." Vince attempted a laugh which turned into a cough. "So, that's why I fell like I have been trampled by an elephant."

"As far as I can tell you have a concussion. You need to stay put."

Vince began to try and sit up and immediately regretted it as the room began to spin and the pounding in his head worsened. He laid his head back down.

"Because as it seems you just found out." Orwell gave him a look. "You may be dizzy and nauseated for a time."

Orwell took a deep breath. "I don't mean to throw a curveball at a guy that was just knocked out, but…"

Orwell moved out of the way allowing Vince to see Trip. He watched as Vince's eye grew wide and he immediately reached for his face. "It's okay, dad. I think it's cool my dad's a superhero."

"Help me up." Vince said softly.

Orwell looked at him. He repeated himself louder. "Help me up."

Orwell knew better than to argue with him. She steadied him as she helped him sit up on the side of the bed. She watched him close his eyes for several moments after becoming upright.

When he opened his eyes, she saw look as clear as she had ever seen them. "Come here, buddy and give me a hug."

That was all the invitation he needed. Trip ran over enveloping his father in as tight a hug as he dared.

Orwell slid away from the family scene. She watched as tears began to slide down Vince's face.

"I love you." Vince breathed the words out, no letting go of Trip.

"I love you too, dad. I've missed you." came the small reply.

"I've missed you too." Vince finally pulled Trip away so that he could look at him. "I told you there was no journey too far."

"I got the compass." Trip said smiling up at his dad.

"Good." Vince smiled taking in his son's face, memorizing every detail.

"I'm glad you have a hard head, dad."

Vince couldn't help but let out a laugh. "Me too."

"Mom will be so happy." Vince's expression instantly changed to one of concern. "Trip, you can't tell her I'm alive."

"Why not?" Trip cocked his head to one side. "Why didn't you ever tell us you were alive?"

Vince took a deep breath. "I was trying to protect you." He paused momentarily. "You remember when we would read the comics together?"

Trip nodded. "The hero has to keep his identity secret so the bad guys don't go after the ones he loves?" Trip nodded again.

"It is the same thing here." Vince said. "There are some bad guys out there. The ones that said that I did all those bad things. It is better that they think that I'm not around anymore so they don't come after you or your mother. I never stopped missing you. I would come and see you the best way I knew how."

"I knew all those things they said about you weren't true."

"Thanks buddy." Vince smiled. "You understand why you can't tell your mother?"

"I guess." Trip said. "Mom has been really upset. She acts like everything is okay, but I can tell. I thought it would make her feel better."

Vince's heart broke again. "I know it's hard. I would love to see her and give her a hug and make her feel better too, but it's not safe right now."

"When will it be safe?" Trip stared directly into his father's eyes.

"I don't know, Trip. Hopefully soon. Hopefully soon."

"Speaking of your mom, we need to get you back home before she gets worried."

"Can't I stay a little longer with you?" Trip pleaded. "She thinks I'm spending the night upstairs with Freddie."

Vince drew his son into another hug. "If I could I would never let you go again. But, you have to go for now. Okay?" Vince pulled his son away so that he could look into his eyes. "My friend is going to take you back home. I'll see you again as soon as I can."

Vince looked up at Orwell who had stayed over in the corner away from the family scene. "Make sure he gets home okay."

"Come on, Trip. Your dad needs to rest so he can come and see you again." Trip didn't move continuing to stand in the same position.

"Trip, please." Vince said barely containing his emotions.

Orwell once again tried to steer the boy out of the room and this time he hesitantly obliged.

Vince watched them leave as long as he could before laying back down, his head and heart a swirl of emotions.


	4. Chapter 4

Louie stopped outside the door, taking a deep breath trying to draw up some courage. He dreaded walking through; knowing what was going to happen on the other side. But he also knew that there was no way around it either. Taking another steadying deep breath, he opened the door.

"Louie, hey there. Come over here." A voice seemingly emitting from the shadow of the room said. Devino Manselli, head of the Manselli crime family, a small but sometimes brutal crime family, sat in the dimly lit room flanked on either side of him by a bombshell. The edges of the room held his muscle which stood like stoic statues waiting to be called into action. Bulges could easily be seen sticking out from the men's jackets. Two other people played a game of pool on a table tucked away in the other corner of the room. All eyes seemed focused on him as he entered the room. Louie pushed the thought away as he approached the older man. "Hey, Devino."

"Why so serious, pal?" Devino smiled, his bright white teeth on full display. You have started on your path to riches. You did get it done, right?" His low voice grew deeper as he spoke.

"Not exactly." Louie avoided Devino's eyes.

Devino's eyes darkened, leaning forward his pale face accentuated by the light. "Do you not love your brother?"

"Of course I do." Louie said caught off guard.

"Obviously, you don't." Devino stated plainly leaning back in his seat. "Your brother comes to me; begging me to help you out. Said that he would vouch for you. Well, how could I say no to such brotherly love? I give you a simple task to do. Just stake out the location and find a good place to put some explosives. Don't you want to help me – us- get a piece of the big time? We have to show that we are able to play with the big boys. Taking down one of Chess's rivals will show we are ready to get a big piece of the pie. But, if you aren't up to the task…"

"It was The Cape." Louie said quickly trying to explain what happened.

"The Cape?" Devino raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Yeah, I was staking out the place, just like you told me, trying to find the best place. All of a sudden this kid shows up."

"A kid? " Devino cocked his head to the side slightly resting it in his palm. "I thought you said it was the Cape."

"Well, the kid hadn't been there long before The Cape showed up and started talking to him like he knew him."

"Maybe it was take your kid to work night." Devino laughed at his own joke.

"Good one, boss." Louie smiled, but quickly became serious as Devino's smile disappeared.

"While the Cape was talking to this kid, I thought this would be a good way for me to show you I belong, by taking down The Cape."

Devino's head titled back as a thunderous laugh escaped him. "Oh, that's a good one. Scales, Chess, nobody has hardly even laid a finger on this guy, and you," Devino gestured toward Louie. "And you are going to take him down on your first assignment. You are either really stupid or exceptionally lucky."

"I'm going with lucky, since I got a hit in."

"You actually had a fight with The Cape." Devino looked up and down Louie. Despite, a slightly dirty shirt nothing look off about his appearance. "You don't look like you've been in a fight."

"There was just one lick."

"Oh, so not only did you single handedly take down the Cape. You did it with one swing? Oh, this is getting good."

"While The Cape was distracted by talking to the kid, I snuck up and snagged him with a wrench."

"And he just stood there while you clubbed him?" Devino asked with a half smile.

"No."

"No?" Devino questioned.

Louie reached into his pocket, pulling out a small dart. "He tranquilized me as I was trying to hit him. I know I got him, but he was gone when I woke up."

Devino stared at the dart for a long moment. "Say that I actually believe you story, for argument's sake. You say The Cape acted like he knew this kid?"

"Yeah, said he told the kid that he didn't need to be out late and for him to get back home to his mom."

"You think you would recognize this kid if you saw him again?" Devino rubbed his chin contemplatively.

Louie nodded, seeing his exit of the situation.

"Good." Devino smiled, standing and putting an arm around Louie's shoulder. "Forgot about the explosives on the building, Louie. You are going to have an even bigger part in helping out to the big time."

Orwell wearily pulled back up in her car. She felt emotionally drained. She had no idea what must be going through Vince's head at the moment. The ride back with Tripp had been rather quiet. She wasn't going to push the kid to talk. She was certainly not the one to talk to when it came to family issues.

Yawning, she entered the shared common area and glanced over at Vince. Thankfully, he was asleep. She just wasn't sure if she would be able to have a good talk about at this time. She glanced over at her bed, her body wanted her to give in and lay down. She knew that there was something she had to take care of first before she could lay her head down.

Sun filtered in chasing the shadows away. The smell of coffee wafted through the air. Vince lay still in his bed desperately trying to cling to the dream he was having. He and his family were at the park having a picnic. Everyone was happy and laughing as the sun shone brightly down on them. The dream disappeared like a vapor and he hesitantly opened his eyes. He was then aware of the faint sound of someone typing on a keyboard and looked over to see Orwell busy at work.

He attempted to get up and involuntarily groaned in the process, the movement still causing his head to throb. He managed to get up and saw that the noise had caught Orwell's attention as she was now sitting in a nearby chair.

"So, how are you feeling?" She asked looking at him concerned.

"Like someone is playing a set of drums inside my head."

"Would you like some coffee?"

"Yeah, that would be great." Vince said looking very bleary eyed.

Orwell returned a moment later with a steaming cup. She handed it to him, sitting quietly for a moment.

He could feel her staring at him. "Go ahead and ask."

"How are you doing?"

Vince took a deep breath. "How'd it happened?"

Orwell took a moment. "I was working." She motioned toward the set of nearby computers and I heard something over your comm. Then there was silence. I kept calling your name, trying to get a response when there was suddenly a child's voice on the other end. He told me what had happened. I told him that I was your friend and was coming but I needed to know how badly you were hurt. The next thing I heard was him gasp and say "Dad." I knew that is was possible that he might remove your mask, but I felt knowing your medical condition was of the highest priority."

Vine took another deep breath. He felt torn inside. It had been wonderful to be able to see Tripp again, but he had stayed hidden for one reason. To protect his family. Now, in an instant all of that had possibly been put in jeopardy.

"Well, are you going to say anything?" Orwell asked hesitantly.

"I don't know what to do." Vince said slowly. "I just don't know what to do now. I have done all of this to try and protect them."

"You still can." Orwell looked him straight in the eye. "Let me show you what I have been working on."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thanks to everyone reading this story. A big thank you to everyone reviewing it. Glad you are enjoying it. Oh, and yeah this one is a little short, sorry about that. Next one has more action in it. I don't own The Cape, otherwise it would still be on T.V.

Orwell walked slowly next to Vince, glancing at him occasionally. She wasn't going to treat him like a porcelain doll, because she knew that would only make him feel worse, but she was going to be beside him to steady him if he needed it. She watched as he gingerly sat down in the chair next to her, a small grunt escaping.

"I just about pulled an all nighter on this one." Orwell said trying to focus on work. "So, you owe me one."

"What is it going to cost me?" Vince asked with a small side long grin.

"You are taking a day of rest." Orwell said waiting for the argument she felt likely would come. When none came, she turned back to her computer screen. "There was video surveillance installed at the work site. I imagine, Douglas McLean the owner of the building, expected something to happen after speaking out against ARK."

"Wasn't there an article recently about how he thought ARK was a sham, and he would protect his own property?" Vince said. "He didn't want anything to do with ARK."

"That's the one." Orwell said, pulling up the video file on her computer. "He does have a rather nice video monitoring system, but nothing I can't crack." Orwell smiled briefly and was glad to get a small smile in return. "I erased this from their system replacing it with a loop of an empty floor."

Vince watched, transfixed on the image of himself talking to his son. He saw his attacker waiting in the shadows mere feet from where they were standing. He had let his guard down while talking to his son, and had not been as aware of his surroundings as he should have been. He winced involuntarily at the sight of himself being bludgeoned by the wrench. He saw his son reach for the comm. device placing it in his own ear. Vince's breath caught in his throat, and his heart twisted in his chest as he heard the scared tone in his son's voice as Trip hesitantly reached for his mask. His son's pleas of "Dad" turning from shock to horror were almost too much for him to bear.

At the end of the video, Orwell turned to see a tear sliding down Vince's face. "No one else has seen this video. Your secret is still safe. You're family is still safe."

"For now, maybe" came the quiet response. Vince took a deep, slow steadying breath. "I asked my son to lie to his mother that his father, who everyone thinks died a terrible criminal, is alive. Not only does he have to deal with that now. He can't tell anybody. Not even his own mother. How can you do that to a kid?"

Orwell looked at Vince sadly. "Well, I know that you have an amazing, resilient son that just found out that instead of losing his dad, he has been looking out for him this entire time. He never believed any of those lies about you."

Orwell saw that Vince didn't look completely convinced. "I have a feeling that he can handle just about anything that is thrown at him."

"What makes you say that?" Vince asked unsure.

"Because, he's _your_ son."

Vince took a breath letting the words sink in for a moment, before asking. "So, what do we know about this guy?"

Orwell returned her attention to the screen. "His name is Louie DeFranco. He is a small time crook. Mainly check fraud, some small shoplifting charges, nothing big. It seems that he has tried to go straight most of the time. He has been legitimately employed at more than one location over the years. "

"He's going from shoplifting to assault. That seems to be a bit of a stretch." Vince said looking between the slightly pudgy man on the screen and Orwell.

"Well, you haven't met the whole family yet. " She said pulling up some more screens. "Meet Sammy DeFranco, career criminal enforcer and underboss to Devino Manselli. They are one of the smaller organized crime families in the city. But, from everything I can find out they are trying to enter the big leagues. Anything that Devino needs done would be carried out by Sammy."

"So, why was Louie at the construction site instead of Sammy, if he is Devino's personal errand boy?"

"I haven't been able to find any legitimate employment records for Louie since he got out of prison several months ago. My guess is that little brother decided to get into the family business. It wouldn't be hard for him to be accepted given his brother's position in the group. They wanted to take down someone who is a rival of ARK's to show that they mean business, so use someone that was expendable in case something went wrong."

Orwell looked at Vince and could tell that he was trying his best to be alert and stay with the conversation but was desperately losing the battle. "Why don't you lay back down for a bit, when you get up we can talk about this some more?"

Vince began to argue, but knew she was right as another wave of fatigue hit him. _Just a little nap, _his body begged. "Don't let me stay there long."

"I promise." Orwell said.


	6. Chapter 6

The sheet twisted under Vince's grasp as the dream intensified, a low moan escaping him. Vince stood at the end of a darkened alley, the dark night surrounding him intensely. He stared down the alley way as his wife and son approached. Something felt off. Something was not right. Before he could move, men jumped out of the shadows grabbing hold of his family dragging them off into the darkness. He tried to move forward, do something, but was struck from behind. Falling forward, he could hear Trip calling out "Dad!"

Vince took a gasping breath, grapping hold of the wrist that was trying to shake him awake as he looked around wildly.

"Vince, its okay." Orwell said softly. "You've just been having a bad dream. Its okay."

Orwell watched as Vince's eyes lost the wild glaze they had held just a few moments before.

Vince blinked several times, finally noticing that he was still holding tightly onto Orwell's wrist. "I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?"

She saw the pained expression cross his face as he quickly let go. "No, I'm fine." she said as she gave him a reassuring smile.

"Are you okay?" she asked and he could see the concern in her eyes.

"Yeah, I think I need to get up." He said, sitting up and throwing the sheet off of himself. He tried shaking the image of his family being dragged away, but it lingered, playing at the edge of his consciousness.

Dana lovingly looked down at Tripp, who was walking beside her and finishing off an ice cream cone. "I'm sorry that we had to stay so late again tonight. I know that I have been working a lot lately. But, at least you got some ice cream out of the deal." Dana tried to sound peppy.

"It's okay, mom." Tripp said while taking his last bite of cone. "I understand. Things are going to get better." He said looking up at her.

"Yes, they are." She marveled at her son sometimes. After everything that has happened, that he could still be so positive, and mature. She had noticed that he seemed to be more upbeat in the last day, she didn't dwell on it. She was just glad he finally seemed to be happy. "I tell you what this weekend – no work. Just you and me. Why don't we go and see a movie. Your pick."

"That would be…." Trip's sentence trailed off as Dana followed his son's line of vision and saw two men exit a vehicle heading straight for them.

Vince stood in the shadow of the alleyway. A quick shiver went up his spine as he saw the men approaching and a flash of the nightmare he had had sprang to his mind.

"I see them too. Just get them to the car and I'll get everyone out of here." Vince's radio broke him out of his thoughts."

"Orwell?" Vince glanced down the street in the direction that his family was coming and saw a familiar sports car. "What are you doing here?"

"You didn't think I was actually going to let you go out on your own in your current condition, did you? Now, hurry and get them over here."

Vince watched the men approach and the saw the look of fear and apprehension cross his wife's face. He had to wait until they were close enough for him to strike. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as he could hear his heartbeat in his ears. He could tell which of the two men was the ring leader of the group just by his walk. He recognized the other man as the one from the construction site. As soon as the men stepped on the sidewalk he also saw the gun.

A second later, he whipped the Cape out, wrenching the gun out of the startled man's hand. He heard, "Hey, what the .." before he silenced the man with a strong blow to the jaw. He turned to the other man, who now looked as if he had seen a ghost. "Remember me?" he asked before placing a similar blow to him as well.

Vince looked over at Dana who appeared to be a bit shell shocked at the moment. "What's going on? Who are these guys."

"They're mob guys." Vince glanced over at Tripp momentarily before returning his gaze to Dana. He could tell she wanted to start peppering him with questions. He held up his hands in an effort to stem the tide. "I need you to come with me now, before they wake up. I'll explain everything later." He reached out his hand, hoping she would take it without any further questions. "I promise you will be safe."

"Okay." She nodded her head quickly as Orwell quickly put the car in place. "Get in."


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Here's a birthday present to my readers. My longest chapter yet for this story. Hope you enjoy.

Dana sat tensed in the back seat of the car her hand covering Trip's smaller hand. Her mind buzzed with scenarios of why the men could be after them. She figured it had to be to be related to a case that she had worked on, but as hard as she tried she couldn't think of any mob related cases. She glanced over at Trip who seemed to be taking the whole situation pretty well in stride, staring calmly out the window as the darkened city scenery flew past them. She was glad that he seemed so calm, but it struck her as odd. How could he be so calm after they were near kidnapped and who know what else might have happened? An involuntary shudder ran down her spine at the thought.

She glanced up at the passengers in the front of the car. Maybe that why Trip was so calm. Trip definitely seemed to have a connection with the masked man, who ever he was. She looked up noticing a pair of eyes looking back at her. They held a mix of concern, uncertainty but also determination. She didn't turn away from his gaze. There seemed to be something familiar in it. She couldn't quite place what it was, but she had a feeling, almost like déjà vu. The eyes looked away and she turned her attention to the dark night as well.

A few minutes later, Orwell's voice broke the silence in the car. "Here we are."

Dana looked up in amazement at her surroundings. The large tents rose up out of the night sky in a way forming their own little city. Vince immediately got out, meeting Orwell in front of the car. "Take them inside. I have to go have a talk with Max."

Orwell nodded, looking over at Dana and Trip. "Please follow me."

Dana grabbed Trip's hand as they were led toward the largest tent. Dana drew back as a ball of fire emanated nearby from one of the fire eaters. She saw a beautiful blonde woman straighten up from a contortion and gasp when she caught sight of them. She saw that a man with jet black hair and a dwarf were playing cards and their arrival also caught their attention. They kept walking past everyone stopping in front of a small room.

"Come on, in here." Orwell lifted up the tent flap, revealing a room containing a small bed and a chair and few other small items.

Vince wearily entered Max's tent. The older man didn't even look up from his desk. "Before you say anything, I want you to know that I am not a babysitter or a daycare service."

"They are only going to be here on a very temporary basis. As soon as I have this situation taken care of, they are going to be going back to their lives. "

"What about you?" Max asked finally looking up.

"What about me?" Vince shot back.

"Are you going to be going back to your life as well?" Max reclined in his chair, looking squarely at Vince.

"You know I can't do that." Vince snapped. "Not as long as Chess is out there."

"How can your family return to theirs?" Max motioned to the tent that was Vince's part time residence.

"No one else knows who they are. Once, I take care of Devino. No one else will." Vince said growing agitated.

"How are you going to continue with this?" Max said motioning to the Cape and mask that Vince was still wearing.

"I'm going to tell her." Vince said. "It's only right that she knows. Trip already knows and it is only right that she does."

"I see." Max leaned forward on his desk interlacing his fingers. "You can not be swayed from this decision."

"No, she deserves to know. " Vince said adamantly. "Trip found out, and it isn't right to have him keep something like this from his mother. She is confused and frightened."

"Hmm" Max stared at Vince contemplatively. "We have discussed this before. A tiger can not change his stripes."

"I'm not asking you too." Vince shouted, before taking a breath to calm down. "All I am asking is you for to give them shelter for a day or two until I can get this resolved. I will owe you."

"They can stay, but I will remember that." Max said, dismissing Vince.

Vince stepped out of the tent and saw Raia and Ruvi standing outside the door.

Vince looked over at Raia cautiously. "Will you take care of them?"

Raia nodded as Vince gave her a small smile in return. "Thank you."

Vince walked into his temporary home and saw Dana sitting on the bed. Orwell and Trip were playing a card game at the small table. Dana looked up at him. She seemed confused and worried but wanted to appear strong. He took a deep breath trying to steady his beating heart. As much as it thrilled him to see his family, he was also worried about the shock of revealing himself.

Trip smiled up at him knowingly, he returned with a small smile of his own. His heart pounded in his ears, as he looked at Trip and Orwell. "I need to have a word with you mom."

"Come on, Trip we can continue this out here." Orwell said.

Dana looked at them departing wearily, but didn't make an attempt to stop her. She had just help save their lives.

"I promise, he'll be safe." Vince said.

Vince watched as Trip left the tent, giving him another smile.

"Okay, so why are two mob guys after me and my son?" Dana asked standing and crossing her hands over her chest.

"I'll explain that. But, I have to show you something first." Vince said stepping closer to her, pushing his hood back, revealing his curly hair.

Dana instinctively wanted to take a step back, but found herself rooted to the spot, unsure exactly what was going on.

"You deserve to know what is going on." Vince said softly, reaching for the tie that kept his mask in place. The last of the charade was about to fall. Time seemed to come to a standstill as he removed the mask.

Dana gasped as felt the blood drain away from her face. She felt lightheaded as if she were about to faint. Her mind began trying to comprehend what her eyes were seeing. Her mouth opened to try to form a question, but no words came out. She watched in a state of shock as a ghost approached her. He couldn't be a ghost. She had talked to him.

As he stood directly in front of her, she felt herself lift her hand up and touch his face. "I'm real." Two those words were all that she needed, as she collapsed into him, sobbing.

Vince held his wife next to him. It had been so long, since he had been able to hold her and feel her warmth against him. He stood there silent, giving her the time she needed to recover from the shock he had just given her. He would stand there as long as it took, just holding her.

Eventually, she pulled herself away from him, tears still creating lines down her face. He gently wiped them away, gazing down at her. He waited a moment more for her to regain her composure. "How? I saw you – on the news- there was an explosion."

"There was a tunnel underneath the train car. I was able to get in it just before the blast. The door to the tunnel shielded me. I woke up here."

Vince guided her towards the small bed that he slept on when he was at the circus. "I know you have questions."

Dana felt like Alice waking up at the other end of the rabbit hole at the end of the story, when a thought struck her. She placed her hand over her mouth as she gasped. "When you and your friends were helping Marty and his family try to escape. This is why you wouldn't turn around and look at me."

Vince nodded. "That was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. All I wanted to do was to tell you I was alive. You didn't have to carry everything by yourself. I thought by not telling you, I was protecting you. No one would go after the family of a dead man."

"Why tell me now?" Dana placed her hand over his. She was still amazed at the fact that she could do this small gesture. "Don't get me wrong. I'm glad to know you're alive and everything that is going on."

"The incident the other night changed things. Trip was exploring the building next door. I saw him and went to check on him."

Dana took a quick intake of breath. "That's why you started coming at night."

"I couldn't leave you alone, completely." Vince said as he pushed a stray strand of hair away from her face. "I had to check and make sure that both of you were alright even if it meant not as myself."

Dana smiled up at him leaning into his chest once again for a moment, before leaning out. "So, all those stories about .." Dana pointed to his outfit. "They're all true?"

"Some have been exaggerated. I had no idea how sore a superhero gets." Vince gave her a one sided smile before becoming serious again. "One of those men from earlier got a lucky shot in and wanted to use Trip as bait to get to me. I can not let anything happen to you." Vince rubbed Dana's hand with his thumb. "If anything happened to you or "Trip…."

"I'm not going to pretend that it has been easy without you." Dana said. "But, you don't need to worry about us."

Vince smiled. "I am not going to be able to come home, just yet. But, I wanted you to know that I was around and still looking out for you."

"I understand." She hugged him tightly. "I'll just pretend it is one really long stake out. You do what you have to do."

"I'm going to need you to stay here, out of sight until its safe. Okay?" Vince asked looking deeply into her eyes as if studying every feature of them.

"Okay." She leaned in and kissed him.


	8. Chapter 8

Vince crouched low in a darkened alley way on the docks. The small lamp posts that dotted the long board walk directly in front of him were crusted with salt and did little to illuminate the area only casting small areas of light directly below them.

He shifted his position uneasily. He had been on numerous stakeouts before and after donning the Cape and could normally stay focused for hours. His mind kept drifting away to his family. The image of his wife once again in his arms filled his senses, he could smell her hair, feel her breath on his cheek, hear her heart beating as he held her close not wanting to ever let her go again.

A voice over the comm. broke Vince out of his reverie. "This is going to work out and they're going to be fine."

Vince took a deep, calming breath attempting once more to focus at the task at hand. Things were going to go as plan if he didn't stay focused. "Are you sure this is going to work?"

"Yes, it's going to work." Orwell said reassuringly. "I left enough bread crumbs anybody could follow them. I let word leak out to Scales that Devino said he had gotten rid of The Cape and now had his eyes set on the docks while letting word reaching Devino that Scales had heard about him and wanted to talk."

The sound of approaching footsteps, cut the conversation short. "You see, Louie. You helped make this happen." The older man smiled as he clamped a hand on Louie's shoulder. Then turning away from Louie and facing the water. "You helped the family get a piece of the big time. So, what do you have to say for yourself."

A muffled noise behind Devino caught his attention as he turned around. "Louie?"

"Louie?" Devino immediately grabbed the gun out from his back as he spun in a circle, not seeing his associate who had been standing beside him only a moment before. "Louie!"

"Make a single sound and your dead." The cape whispered in the slightly pudgy's man's ear. "Do you hear me?" He pulled the cape tighter over the man's mouth as he felt him nod ever so slightly. "Good. Because if you don't, then I might just let you go and what is about to happen to your boss will happen to you too."

Devino whipped his head around, his grip on his gun tightened. He had heard all the stories about the mysterious Cape figure, but chalked most of them up to people overactive imagination. That was no way that someone was vanish into a cloud of smoke, or take down ten men single handedly. It just wasn't possible. Standing alone on the dock, shifting his eyes in every direction, straining to see through the blackness of the night, he wasn't so sure.

"Louie" Devino hissed again. A noise behind made him spin quickly around to find himself facing Scales flanked on each side by henchman. "He's here." Devino said in a near crazed tone.

"Who's here?" Scales asked looking more than a bit annoyed.

"The Cape." Devino said. "He's here."

Scales crossed his arms across his chest, "Oh, really. He's here right now."

"Yes," Devino nodded. "My guy was here one moment and then he just disappeared."

Scales expression didn't change. "I thought you had gotten rid of that vermin. That's what I heard. That you had some how miraculously rid the city of the Cape and now wanted a bigger piece of the pie. My piece."

What little color was left in Devino's face began to drain out as he listened. "What? What are you talking about?"

"Oh, I know you have bricks for brain, but don't play dumb with me." Scales spat at him. "One thing that really irritates me is for people to lie to me. You thought you could get this story out about you taking down the Cape and then use it to take the docks from me. The docks aren't for the taking. Take care of him boys."

A small, muffled noise emanated from the shadows of the dock, as Louie watched the scene unfold. "I just saved your live. Leave Palm City and never come back again, and we will be fine. If you ever set foot in this town again, I will be sure that you will get the same welcome that your boss just got. Are we clear?"

Vince felt the man nod slightly underneath his grip. Vince released his grip.

Louie turned around to face the masked vigilante, but found himself alone.


	9. Chapter 9

Laughter filled the tent as Tripp beat his dad once again in poker. It was a sound that Vince had almost given up hope of hearing again. He savored the sound as she to soak in the every ounce of this moment. He wanted to draw the feeling into his pores so that he would never lose it. He looked over at his wife who was grinning widely, enjoying the scene herself.

"I think you got a magic deck of cards there buddy, that only let you win." Vince said ruffling his son's hair. "Where did you learn to play like this?"

"From Raia" Trip said, beaming.

"That explains it." Vince said. "She must have told the secret to be able to beat your dad. What about your mother?"

Dana held her hand up in protest. "Oh, he's definitely better than I am."

Ruvi leaned against the wooden wheel beside Max as he watched Vince play a card game with his family. "Heartwarming scene."

"Yes, it is." Max nodded in agreement.

"Well, do you think he is going to agree to it or is this going to make him lose his edge?" Ruvi asked.

Max smiled brightly. "I think this is going to motivate him even more. Dangle something in front of someone that they want badly and then have it taken away again and they will try and grasp it even more."

"He will go after Stephano? " Ruvi asked turning his attention back to the family scene. "He won't be too busy with his own quest?"

"He owes me after this." Max said. "I don't do charity. We kept him here for a reason. I think it is time to let him why he's here."

Orwell stood in the shadows watching the happy family scene. Unshed tears threatened to form in her eyes as she yearned to have memories like this one filled with laughter. She felt like she was intruding on a private moment that was not meant to be shared with anyone. Tearing her eyes away from the scene before her stoic disposition crumbled, she glanced outside noticing that the night had completely over taken the day. It was safe now. It was time. They had to go.

Taking a deep breath, completely burying any lingering memories she moved towards the table.

Vince noticed her first his laughter dying down as she approached knowing what it meant. She saw the look in his eye – asking for more time but knowing they have to leave. "It's time."

Vince turned back to his family as they all rose from their seats. "It's okay, Vince. I know it is going to be okay now. Now today, but one day. I will wait for that day."

Vince closed the gap between them and encompassed both of them in a tremendous embrace, tears threating to fall as well. "I love both of you so much. I will do anything to keep this family together and safe. "

After a moment that didn't go on nearly as long as he would have liked he released them. "Well, I think it is so cool that my dad's The Cape."

Vince smiled down at his son ruffling his hair. "And don't you forget it."

"Be careful out there." Dana leaned in kissing Vince gently.

"Oh, gross."

Vince knelt down next to his son. "You take care of your mom. Okay?"

Tripp nodded silently.

Vince wrapped his hand in Dana's giving it a gentle kiss. "It's time."

Dana nodded. "See you later. I'm not saying goodbye."

Vince smiled at her as she turned her hand slowly escaping his own. "See you later."

Vince watched as they slowly exited the tent, rooted to the spot wanting to memorize everything about them. Vince felt warmth penetrate him that he hadn't felt in a long time. He could handle the separation now. He felt renewed and determined to work harder to end his exile from his family.

A/N: Okay, I finally finished this story. I ran into some serious writer's block with this last chapter and had contemplated not finishing it. Here is it at long last.


End file.
